Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Egypt judges bow out of Islamist leaders’ trial

October 30, 2013 12:59 AM

Setohy
Abdel Rahman holds a portrait of his son Ahmed, killed during early
July clashes, outside the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters, during the
second trial hearing for Muslim Brotherhood supreme leader Mohammed
Badie and his aides on October 29, 2013 in Cairo, Egypt. (AFP
PHOTO/GIANLUIGI GUERCIA)

CAIRO: The judges presiding over the trial of leaders of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood
stepped down from the proceedings Tuesday because security agencies
would not allow the defendants to attend in court, apparently out of
fear of protests, judicial officials said.

Separately, a Brotherhood-led Islamist coalition said ousted President Mohammad Morsi
refuses to appoint a lawyer to represent him in his trial, which is
due to start on Nov. 4, because he does not recognize the court or the
political system set up since his ouster by the military.

The
developments reflect the political storms surrounding the series of
trials of Brotherhood members that come hand in hand with wide-scale
crackdown by the new military-backed authorities against Morsi’s
Brotherhood since his July 3 ouster. Morsi’s Islamist allies denounce
the prosecutions as show trials and political vengeance.

The
authorities, meanwhile, seek to show that the Brotherhood has been
fueling violence in the country, during Morsi’s one-year presidency and
after the coup, and to establish legal justification for imprisoning
them.

The judges stepped down from the trial of 35 Brotherhood members, including the group’s top leader Mohammad Badie
and his powerful deputy Khairat al-Shater, on charges of inciting
violence. The move forces the trial, which was only holding its second
session Tuesday, to start over.
The move amounted to a sharp
criticism of the proceedings. So far, in its two sessions since August,
none of the defendants has attended the trial, apparently out of
inability to ensure their safety or fear Brotherhood supporters would
hold protests outside the Cairo Criminal Court where it is being held.

Announcing the three-judge panel’s decision, judge Mohammad al-Qarmouti said only that it was because the panel “felt uneasiness,” according to a court official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
But
another judicial official told the Associated Press that the panel had
asked the Interior Ministry, which is in charge of police, to bring the
defendants to the courtroom for Tuesday’s session.

The ministry
promised to do so but, the judges were notified Monday night that
“transferring the defendants to the court is impossible.”
The
judicial official said judges needed to see the defendants, ask them
questions and present them with allegations, adding that “no trial
should be held just on paper.”

Mustafa Attiya, Badie’s lawyer,
said the move was because the judges came under pressure by security
officials to move the trial to inside Cairo’s Tora prison, where
defendants are held.

“The judges refused, but the pressure continued,” he said. “This is not a trial, this is a farce.”

The
judicial official didn’t deny that there was pressure to move trial to
the prison. He said the prosecutor general is the only one authorized to
issue an order to move the trial to a different location and “this has
not happened.”

The defendants in the case include six senior
leaders, including Badie and Shater, the group’s powerful financier.
Four other Brotherhood figures are on trial in the case on charges of
incitement, stemming from June 30 clashes that left nine dead when
Brotherhood members opened fire on protesters storming their Cairo
headquarters.

The other 29 are low-level Brotherhood members.
The
trial is part of an extensive crackdown on Morsi’s group and its
supporters since the military removed Egypt’s first freely elected from
office on July 3 following widespread protests against him. Several
thousand Brotherhood members and supporters have been arrested, while
security crackdowns on their continued protests have killed hundreds of
Morsi supporters.In next month’s trial, Morsi is facing charges of
inciting murder in connection to clashes during his presidency, when
Brotherhood supporters attacked a sit-in by anti-Morsi protesters
outside his presidential palace in December. The resulting clashes left
10 dead.

Since his ouster, Morsi has been held in a secret
military detention facility, virtually incommunicado, speaking to his
family only twice by phone. He has been undergoing questioning but has
not been allowed to see any lawyers. In his phone calls – the most
recent in September – he underlined that he did not recognize the
prosecution against him.

The “anti-coup” coalition, a grouping of
Islamist factions that is led by the Brotherhood, said in a statement
that Morsi “will not appoint a lawyer to represent him in the trial.” It
said it was applying to send lawyers to monitor Morsi’s trial but “not
to defend him.” The lawyers, it added, would represent “victims of the
coup,” referring to those killed in the crackdown.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on October 30, 2013, on page 1

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